Everybody thought Flip Saunders was under pressure to pull the trigger on a Kevin Love trade at the NBA Draft — from Love’s agent/camp to other teams there was a lot of work, which led to a lot of hype.

Saunders decided to wait.

Now out of Cleveland — where it just has been assumed for days that LeBron James returning was a done deal and fans have moved on to the next steps in their heads — comes the belief that once LeBron makes his (obvious to them) announcement a Kevin Love trade to Cleveland will follow closely behind.

But again, Saunders is going to be patent, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

Minnesota willing to let market play out until James/Anthony/Bosh land, wait on next wave of Kevin Love offers, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

A trade for Love would have to center around Andrew Wiggins, but the Timberwolves want more established players as well (remember they have wanted guys more like Taj Gibson and Klay Thompson). It’s not a simple deal.

Since the draft the plan in Minnesota has followed this logic: Once teams get strike one on LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, then get strike two on second wave of guys (maybe Chris Bosh, certainly Pau Gasol and Luol Deng) they will get desperate. That’s when teams will start to make better trade offers for Love.

Do the Warriors see Bosh added to the Rockets (or Anthony to the Lakers) and decide they need to make a big move and throw Klay Thompson in a deal after all? Maybe not the Warriors, maybe not that specific scenario, but the Timberwolves see something in that mold playing out and can sit back and wait for someone to make a better offer. they are not rushed.

This is what Masai Ujiri did in the Carmelo Anthony situation in Denver — wait and wait and wait until somebody gets desperate and makes a big offer (in this case it was James Dolan over the head of then Knicks’ GM Donnie Walsh). Saunders takes heart in that, and if he has to wait until the deadline he will.

Which could leave some frustrated people in Cleveland and other cities as he waits.

As soon as Chandler Parsons officially signs his offer sheet with the Mavericks, the Rockets will have 72 hours to act. If they match Dallas’ offer, Parsons’ cap hold ($2,875,130) will immediately be replaced on the books by his 2014-15 salary, which is at or near the max ($14,746,000).

Obviously, Houston wants to delay that as long as possible. Signing Bosh first with cap space first and then exceeding the cap to re-sign Parsons – something possible only as long as his cap hold remains on the books – is the Rockets’ ideal plan.

However, even if the roster is stripped to just Dwight Howard, James Harden and Parsons’ cap hold, Houston still couldn’t offer Bosh a max contract.

The Rockets could come close, offering $83,088,781 over four years. Bosh’s max with Houston is $88,151,588 over four years.

Maybe Bosh doesn’t care about that $5,062,807 difference. If so, more power to him.

And for the Rockets to offer even that much, they’d have to dump several players – including starters Patrick Beverley and Terrence Jones. Bosh would replace Jones at power forward, making that departure less of a big deal.

Bosh could sacrifice more salary – $6,804,570 total over four years – to give the Rockets room to keep Beverley, but again, that makes their offer less appealing.

If the Rockets let Parsons walk, Houston could could max out Bosh while keeping Beverley (and one of Omri Casspi, Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington or Josh Powell or Troy Daniels’ qualifying offer). Once more, the Rockets without a key player – Parsons in this case – are much less appealing.

Does Bosh understand all this?

Maybe.

One of two conflicting reports say Bosh is sold on Houston as his backup option if LeBron leaves the Heat.

The Rockets – and therefore Bosh – will soon be on a 72-hour clock to make this work. But as long as Houston wants to keep its two stars, Howard and Harden, and Parsons, a max offer to Bosh is not possible.

If the Rockets let Parsons walk, they could find max cap room for Bosh, but then the timetable wouldn’t matter. There would be no Parsons-related deadline.

Unless Bosh is willing to take less than the max – a possibility – it’s shaking up to be Bosh or Parsons for the Rockets. Or if they gamble wrong and let Parsons walk and LeBron re-signs with the Heat, neither.

It’s just hard to see Houston, again if Bosh truly wants the max, getting both.

Had Houston simply picked up Parsons’ option, he would have counted safely at just $964,750 against the cap this offseason. Instead, he counts at $2,875,130 until his new contract goes into effect. When it does, his 2014-15 salary will become his cap number, and that will be much higher.

Essentially the Rockets were betting Parsons would patiently wait an offer. Houston would sign an outside free agent first and then exceed the cap to re-sign Parsons.

The easy path for the Rockets is signing a top free agent during the 72-hour period they have to match, and then they can go over the cap to keep Parsons.

But that’s predicated on other free agents deciding so quickly. Houston might not get everything to line up so conveniently.

If the Rockets match, they’ll be out of the race for any elite free agents and likely anyone who commands more than the mid-level exception. Carmelo Anthony reportedly plans to re-sign with the Knicks, so there’s likely no dilemma there.

But what happens if LeBron James – and therefore Chris Bosh – is still in flux? Would the Rockets match Parsons’ offer? Or would they let him leave on the chance they can get Bosh?

Daryl Morey backed himself into a corner.

The Mavericks might be hamstringing themselves, too. That’s a lot of money to pay Parsons if Houston doesn’t match – though, if Gordon Hayward deserves a max contract, Parsons probably does, too. Those two have similar value.

For the most part, I like the deal for Dallas, even if it hinders long-term flexibility. The Mavericks are trying to maximize Dirk Nowitzki’s final years. Trading for Tyson Chandler was a good step, and this would be another. Parsons is a solid all-around player who immediately makes the team better.

Plus, if the Rockets match and miss out on a premier free agent, Mark Cuban can take pride in making life difficult for a rival.

Remember, a max salary is determined by experience and previous salary. Just two free agents – Dirk Nowitzki and Carmelo Anthony – had high enough 2013-14 salaries to exceed the max based on years of experience.

Here are the values of max contracts for Nowitzki, Melo and everyone else based on years of experience (updated with precise amounts the NBA provided teams):

A person close to Anthony told The News on Wednesday that barring a last minute change of heart Anthony will re-sign with the Knicks after “agonizing over this” for the past week.

“He is really torn because this is the biggest decision of his career. But he wants to get it done in New York. He told me he believes in Phil,”said the friend who was with Anthony before Anthony’s scheduled workout with Kevin Durant and Kevin Love in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

With Anthony in the fold Phil Jackson is said to be targeting Pau Gasol to come to New York and join him. Gasol has plenty of options with the Bulls, Spurs and Thunder having all made big pitches to him. Those teams can all offer more than Gasol, but he is also an urbane, Barcelona-raised person who is more likely to choose a big city over small.

The Houston Rockets, already had moved on from Anthony and have made a max offer to Chris Bosh, who was a better fit for them. They are all waiting on LeBron James to make his decision.

For the Lakers, it’s back to waiting. The plan all along has been to land a superstar that will take over as the face of the franchise after Kobe retires in a few years. While many Lakers fans had talked themselves into Anthony for that role, players such as Kevin Love or potentially in a couple of years Kevin Durant would be better fits. (It’s too early to speculate on if Durant will even leave Oklahoma City, but Love is on his way out of Minnesota one way or another and has ties to L.A.) The Lakers’ plan has always been to get the star then figure out the system, the opposite of the Knicks’ plan with Phil Jackson.